Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-11-30
SCIENCE SPECIALS.

AN object six feet high can not be seen at
distance of ten miles, owing to the curv-
ature of the earth, which is said to be seven
inches to the mile.
UNTIL a means Of counteracting the in
huence of the electric current on passen-
gers timepieces is discovered the electric
street railway will not meet with high
favor.
1t has been reported that reliable test
for butter will be found in placing it where
mice can have access to it. If a good quail
ity it will disappear; if oleomargarine, it
will remain intact.
THE beauty of mother of pearl and its ir-
ridescent brilliancy are believed to be pro-
duced by three plates overlapping each
other unevenly, and thus they dispense the
light as they reflect it.
As AN inducement to people to boil milk,
it is stated that scarlet fever is due in
large number of cases by the use of milk
from unhealthy cows. This is brought about
by the accumulation of minute plants In the
body through the milk. which through boil
ing are destroyed
IT appears that some fruits acquire most
of their growth by night The fruit of the
cherry laurel, for instance, has been found
to increase at the rate of 80 per cent. at
night, and only 10 per cent by day, while
apples increase 80 per cent at night, and 20
per cent in the daytime.
To RENDER wood and fabrics fireproof a
paper OF science recommends a hot solution
or tungstate of soda. The same solution is
also said to possess valuable antiseptic
qualities, having been used with success in
dlphtheria and in dressing wounds. 1t has
no odor, but its taste is bitter
A PROCESS for the instantaneous genera
tion of steam has lately been patented in
England. Remarkable claims are made for
its economy. 1t viii save So per cent. in
fuel, 96 per cent. in boiler space, and 66 per
cent in the cost of plant. Moreover, by its
use boiler explosion becomes an impossi-
bility.
CONTRARY to former quite general i'm
preston that quartz crystals could not be
artificially produced, the feat has been &C
complished by a noted chemist, by exposing
an aqueous solution of silicic acid prepared
by dialysis to temperature of $50 degrees
centigrade for several months in sealed
glass TASKS.
LIGHTNING is generated at various alti-
tudes from one-quarter Of a mile to four
miles in height. When generated at great
attitudes 1t is usually disseminated among
the negative vapor of the upper air. Rain
conveys vast quantities of electricity to the
earth 1t is only the surplus electricity
that passes as thunder bolt.
ONE of the latest attempts to harness the
forces of nature for the service of man is
the adaptation of a windmill for the turning
Of dynamo, the electricity thus obtained
being stored in suitable batteries. and after
ward used in lighting beacons for the bene-
fit OF the maritime interests. There is
station of this kind near the mouth of the
Seine, and considerable success has been
obtained.
lNvEsTIGATIoNs concerning the effects of
different forms of artificial illumination on
the health have shown that the tallow can
ole Is the most unwholesome agent and the
electro light the best. The incandescent
electric light produces only about 80 as
much heat as the tallow candle, while it
gives out no carbonic acid or water One
gas jet in room is said to vitiate the air as
much as six persons.
THERE are many thousand remedies used
In the practice Of medicine, but a promi-
nent physician says: 1T is not too much to
say that, among the many drugs which we
| possess and administer in large quantity
every day to host of suffering invalids,
there are, even in this enlightened age
scarcely half dozen the physiological ac-
ton of which is at all well understood, and
| perhaps not one on the nature of the action
of which there is no doubt whatever leftn
1T is a well-known fact that the ground
contains air in circulation; although we do
J not see it, it is nevertheless moving and
obeying the same laws which govern that
above the earth. Calm though it is, like
f, that which fills our lungs, it is never wholly
still Upon the density of the soil depends
the quantity of air circulating in it. Gravel,
which is thought the best foundation for
houses, contains larger proportion of air
which is affected by the substances which
filter through the soil than sand and CLAW.
THE introduction Of lead into the system
may take place through the skin, the stonl-
ach, the lungs, and the mucous membranes
in other parts Through the skin, as in the
application OF carbonate of lead ointment to
burns where large surface is involved.
Through the lungs, as certain occupations
involve the inhalation: persons EMPLOYED
IN the manufacture Of lead paints, and also
those employed in paper staining, glazing
cards, grinding Of colors, painting, plumb
ing and shot making. Lead poisoning has
repeatedly occurred from sleeping in newly
! painted rooms.